Amateur and Senior Hockey Leagues

exploring the past hockey leagues of north america

Amateur Hockey Leagues formed the basis of hockey as
we know it today. Starting with the Amateur Hockey
Association in 1893 we look at these leagues and their
history over time. In addition we look at the development
of the Senior Hockey Leagues throughout North America.

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Amateur Hockey leagues

The National Hockey League can trace
it's roots back to some of the early amateur leagues
pre 1900 that were primarily in what was then known
as the Dominion of Canada. In 1885 the first hockey
league in Canada was formed in Kingston Ontario, the Amateur
Hockey Association of Canada was formed in
1886-87 and in 1890 the Ontario Hockey
Association was organized.

This was the era of seven-man hockey, with the clubs
allowed to carry only one spare using him only in case of an injury and 60
minute games.
The
championship team was decided by whoever finished in first place in the league
standings at the end of the season. In the early days competition
from the West didn't exist although Winnipeg had formed an amateur hockey
league
in
1891.

In March of 1892, Lord Stanley of Preston, the sixth Governor-General of Canada
announced his intention to donate a Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The first
recipient of the trophy that was soon known as the Stanley
Cup was the Montreal
AAA club in 1893. It wasn't until 1896 that the Winnipeg Victorias traveled to
Montreal
bringing the Stanley Cup to the west for the first time.

Of the many great early
championship teams, the Ottawa Silver Seven club was perhaps the best. They won
the Stanley Cup
in 1903, 1904 and 1905 and successfully defeated two
challengers during the 1906 season
before losing the Cup to the Montreal Wanderers.

It was
around this time that professional hockey came into
the picture. With top teams now willing to pay high salaries for talent,
senior amateur clubs found they could not compete successfully
with these professional leagues. The Stanley Cup became
the championship trophy of professional hockey in1908 leaving
amateur leagues in Canada without a championship
cup. This problem was rectified in 1908 when Sir Montagu
Allan of Montreal came forward and donated a new hockey
trophy called the Alan Cup.

For many years senior amateur hockey in Canada exceeded
the professional National Hockey League in terms of popularity.
NHL teams would only ever represent a handful of Canadian
cities (and just Toronto and Montreal from 1934 until 1970)
while virtually every community of
any size across the country could and did ice a senior
amateur team. Most teams consisted of "community players" born
and raised where they played hockey. The Ottawa Cliffsides
were the first winners of the Allan Cup and in 1909 Queen's
University of Kingston won the crown.
The
Winnipeg Victorias were the first western club to win the
Allan Cup in 1911 and became the first team to win back-to-back
Canadian senior hockey championships when they repeated in
1912.

Although senior amateur hockey in Canada is not as popular
as it once was, the Allan Cup is still contested each year
and community pride brings with it some excellent hockey.